Wednesday, February 13, 2008

For many years, Woody Allen was content to make films in his beloved New York. Now, after Match Point, Britain seems to be his choice of venue. His latest, like Match Point, another crime thriller, stars Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell as two brothers pitted against each other.In the past, Allen has also largely populated his films with source music, jazz classics and such, calling on the likes of Dick Hyman for any help in stringing it all together. Here, he has broken with tradition by emplying Philip Glass, who has come up with a fairly brief, but quite intense and dramatic score, recorded in New York, under the baton of Glass' regular conductor Michael Riesman.Whilst recognisably Glass' music, there is a slight Herrmannesque feel to it - particularly with regards to Vertigo - strings, piano, brass and woodwind driven, with much intensity and few light moments. The opening title theme is by turns dramatic and more leisurely, with subsequent early cues being quite brief. The score really gets going and takes a very dark turn in "Howard's Request/In the Apt." continuing dramatically with the lengthy "The Pursuit & Murder in the Park," adding tension with the subsequent "Suspicion," before "The Plot Unravels" to punchy brass."Death on the Boat" starts off as powerful and dramatic as one can imagine, but then takes a more leisurely turn to close, with the title theme returning in the "Finale," to bring a satisfying end to proceedings.